Help me expand my college list [TX resident, 3.93 UW, Linguistics]

[ruefriend]

• Texas Resident
• Female / Hispanic
• Homeschooled
  I’m the oldest of my siblings and have been homeschooled almost all my life. My parents support me by buying materials and occasionally teaching things they’re qualified to (Spanish from my mom, a bit of Computer Science from my dad). My mom also made sure I was enrolled in dual credit with my local community college since freshman year which has been super helpful. Essentially, though, I wasn’t concerned with the college admissions game until very recently and was only ever encouraged to get my work done on my own time and achieve good grades. It is what it is, just something to note.
  Another thing to consider is that, by the end of my junior year, I’d been to every U.S. state (minus Hawaii) in an RV with my family. This happened through four individual trips around the states, each lasting 2-4 months, at random times of the year. I continued my schoolwork throughout and mostly only participated in extracurriculars when I was at home. It was definitely worth giving up some stability, but keep this in mind.
  I never took any APs because I wasn’t aware that I could as a homeschooler and I wouldn’t have been around to take the tests my sophomore year anyway.
  I missed the signup date for the PSAT so I never took that either (parents had no idea I was supposed to).

Intended Major: Linguistics (I would’ve built up a better-looking application for this earlier on but I only discovered my passion for language & linguistics somewhat recently)
*I’m fluent in English and Spanish and have dabbled in Hebrew, German, and Yiddish

STATS

• UW GPA: 3.93
• W GPA: 4.23
• no ACT
• SAT: 740 English score, low math score (I’m retaking it in August with a heavy focus on the math)
• 9 Dual Enrollment classes, I’ll have 11 by the time I graduate (Freshman Year: Drama, Texas History, Composition I. Sophomore: College Algebra, Poetry in America, U.S. History, Federal Government. Junior: Pre-Calculus, Astronomy. Next year, Senior: Calculus, Economics)

EXTRACURRICULARS

• varsity swim 3 years
• piano
• guitar
• youth group
• 50+ church volunteer hours
• 50+ assistant swim coach volunteer hours
• some miscellaneous volunteer projects
• a bit of English tutoring when I lived in Mexico for two months

HONORS/AWARDS
this section is lacking, just a couple of minor swim awards

I plan to participate in NACLO (North American Linguistics Olympiad) next year but that’ll likely happen too late for it to end up on my applications.
I’m also moving to a different state for senior year because my mother will be working and getting her Phd in a linguistics-related degree, so I plan to make use of the resources I’ll have access to at that university.

My dream school is Rice. I appreciate their values, the smaller class sizes, the residential college system, and the fact that the campus is only a day-drive away from home. I’m conflicted on wether to apply ED or RD due to financial concerns and my chances of getting in. I’ve attended a local information session, virtual sessions, and I’m visiting the campus later in July.
I’m also applying to UT Austin and Baylor, but the large size of these universities is a bit of a turn-off. I considered Southern Methodist, Texas A&M, and Trinity University, but none offer the Linguistics undergrad major.
As for out of state, I have Colorado College and Macalester College on my list, as well as a couple of reach schools like WashU. I considered Reed College and UIUC but ultimately decided against them due to some major negative points I discovered about them.

Any suggestions for safeties, matches, and reach schools would be greatly appreciated.

[Izzy74]

What are your financial constraints? Have your parents given you a number? I think you have a compelling story but you’re also going to have some challenges getting it across. How far away are you willing to go for school?

[Izzy74]

Also, what state are you moving to?

[tsbna44]

What’s your SAT - a low math doesn’t give me a total. Many schools won’t look at the splits, just the totals.

Budget and what are you interested in? Size, weather, environment (rural, city, suburban).

Given your math score, you might TO to the LACs. UT is only gonna work if you hit rank.

What is your interest in linguistics - I know there are different sub areas.

Without knowing budget or desire - these are some publics that might interest you based on some others you mentioned.

I think you need to drill into curriculums given the major - even at those you noted.

Arizona
Florida Atlantic
Indiana
Kansas
Ole Miss
Oklahoma
North Texas

[LionsTigersAndBears]

U Mass Amherst often comes up in linguistics threads (example threads: 1, 2) as one of the top schools for linguistics in the country. You might take a look at that, even if it’s larger than you’re hoping for.

A medium-sized school (~7,000) with happy, quirky kids (like Rice), emphasizing values/community, that isn’t quite as hard to get into, and that has a strong linguistics program is William and Mary, in Virginia. (It is an out-of-state public, so there’s some friction there, but it’s not as reachy as some of the smaller LACs with good programs, like Pomona, Swathmore, etc.

[blossom]

I think you should schedule a sit-down with an advisor at the college where you are a DE student. You may not be the first student with your profile they’ve seen, and getting some advice from someone who knows the classes you’ve taken, etc. might be a lot more helpful than random folks on the internet.

[chmcnm]

Is your mother considered faculty or an employee at her school? Some schools are part of exchange programs with other schools? Also, some states have reciprocity agreements with other states.

[worriedmomucb]

What kind of linguistics are you interested in? You have listed some languages you know. Are you interested in studying languages or linguistics? If languages, which ones? (Keep in mind that studying languages and studying linguistics are two different things and will take place within different university departments). Answering those questions will help you develop your list, as not all colleges will offer what you are looking for - if you know and can define what you’re looking for.